“Short-Termism”

November 17, 2017

Danny Lovero

“What felled mighty Kodak was not Sony, Canon or even Apple – fierce competitors though they were. Rather, Kodak was brought first to dismissal from the Dow Jones, and then eventually to its knees, not by competitors but its owners, the shareholders. Make no mistake: This was a suicide.”

Lately, I have been caught in the middle of another one, after years ago vowing that I never would. The corporate suicide underway at the moment, has turned out to be a pretty determined attempt, but at least thus far it has proved mercifully unsuccessful.

The destructive forces of trading mechanisms and what has become known as “short-termism” is an assault on the very fabric of many companies. Wisely, some CEO’s are boldly eschewing these influences and pushing back at the groups demanding short term transactions that harm long-term viability. But yields are very hard to come by these days and don’t look like they will be easier to find any time soon. The pressure is immense to extract economic value today against a potential increase in value or usefulness later. Like a giant debt Ponzi scheme, good businesses are forced to yield cash today in hopes they will figure out to create more of it tomorrow.

In For Goodness’ Sake: Satisfy the hunger for meaningful business, we will see that a whole new foundation for why a business exists is being erected by ordinary people saying they need some really important things fixed, and fixed now, and they are not waiting around for what they need. Smart businesses are showing up to deliver on these expectations, and thriving.